FIFA U-17 WC: Spectacular Spain knock out Fabulous France by last minute penalty goal

A LAST MINUTE PENALTY clinched a thriller of a victory for Spain over France in Guwahati at their FIFA U-17 World Cup pre-quarter final clash.

Being one of the first high profile elimination matches of the tournament, the contest generated a lot of interest from local fans, and although the crowd was slow to turn up due to the early weekday kick-off, by half-time more than half the stadium had filled up.

What the assembled crowd was treated to was a game that changed gears and played out on many levels. The start to the match was rather slow with both sides wanting to test each other out without risking any mistakes on their own part.

Spain got a couple of early corners, both of which were played into the hands of French keeper Yahia Fofana. After the game slowed down for about twenty minutes, both teams slowly started making more invasive attempts. 

Near the half hour mark, France created two good chances via Claudio Gomes and Maxene Caqueret wth Adli and Pintor marshalling the midfield to get the ball up to them. But both shots went wide. Right after that, a lofted ball lowered itself into the Spanish goalmouth and Maxene Lacroix tried to get the ball down with his hand Maradona style. The French player was immediately booked.

And then France broke through. Amine Gouiri sent the ball in from the left and Lenny Pintor, who had been most active for France up front, got hold of the ball and sent a low right footer towards the goal on the turn. Spanish keeper Alvaro Fernandez could not get hold of the ball, and France had their lead.

But the lead was short lived. Just before half time an immense team effort saw Spain maneuvre the ball cross the pitch, with a string of passes leading up to Juan Miranda getting a soft header right into the net. The teams, almost evenly matched on the pitch, went into the halftime on level terms.

But in the second half the game changed gear altogether. As the match wore on, Spain became more and more attacking. Mateu Morey's attempt went well wide. Sergio Gomez tried to break past the French defence but his shot got blocked. Gomez then fed Cesar Gelabert with a deadly cross that the latter sent a bit too far down the left.

Seeing Spain takibng more control of the game, France began to push back near the hour mark. An Alex Flips free kick was grabbed well by Fernandez. France moved again and got a corner out of a Guillamon clearance but failed to capitalize on that. The game became more and more physical as some fatigue set in and the shots from the attackers became less and less accurate after the 70 minute mark. Adili found Pintor inside the box but the low shot was blocked by an alert Alvaro Fernandez.

Spain kept pushing past the 80 minute mark and earned back to back corners. But by now the energy level of the players had visibly decreased and the match had become slower. The French coach even started to make penalty shootout minded substitutions. Even Lenny Pintor, the best player on the pitch, was taken off. But then something happened that clinched the game for Spain.

Chasing a through ball, newly introduced substitute Jose Lara had crept into the France box. Tailing him was defender Oumar Solet. The two clashed near the edge of the box and Lara went down. The referee immediately pointed towards the penalty spot.

The entire arena held its breath as Spanish captain Abel Ruiz stepped up to take the spot kick. And he comfortably misdirected the French keeper Fofana to get Spain the game clinching goal at the 90 minute mark.

The stadium exploded. The Spanish reserve bench invaded the pitch. Spain, who had gone all out to avoid a penalty shootout, had made it; ironically it was a penalty that secured the win for them.

The French players fell to the grass when the final whistle rang out. They had put on a hell of a fight and arguably were the better team tonight. But the timing of the penalty given away rather cheaply by a defender who had been a stalwart for them throughout the game spelled nothing but misfortune.

A high profile European exit was on the cards in this game. But the way it came left everyone baffled.